Thorpe
by Blaze Kaplan
Summary: No doubt Highschool is interesting, but exactly how interesting will things get when you stick newsboys in an Upstate New York private school in the year 2007 and throw in a group of seemingly perfect girls and an outcast named Molly Hinter?
1. Chapter 1 Freshman

I remember. I was so freaking excited. I mean, who wouldn't be? Four whole years away from your parent. I loved them, but I was a teenager-fourteen, going into ninth grade-and I needed my space. Plus, I thought I knew everything, so Thorpe definitely was the best idea.

The ride-ugh, the horrible ride-was bumpy and long, I didn't think it would end. Five hours. Five freaking hours in a shitty Ford Pinto, puke colored, squished in the back with my luggage. _New York better be good, _I thought to myself. Up till about a year ago, my family had been pretty well off. Dad was a business man raking in the millions. I had a lot of money saved up, just in case. Of what, I had no clue. But I did it anyway, one of those things you do when you're young, but you don't know why. I had all the latest stuff, clothes, make-up, hair gadgets, electronics. Oddly, I wasn't one of those stuck up, bitchy, spoiled brats. My mom always helped out in the community and I grew up around that. Not around all that glamorous stuff. Then, when I was thirteen, I was interested in boys and such things, make-up and all those girly things really peaked my interest. That's when I started getting the stuff. I was unfamiliar with all the junk, but learned to use them through experimenting. But then, we lost it all. Dad went off gambling, got himself hammered, and lost his whole life's work to a rival business man in one poker game. The last name was Higgins, or something. His son went to Thorpe, too. Racetrack, they called him. At least I still had the money I saved. Not that anyone really knew about it.

"Hey, Blue." I kept typing. Eastern Philosophy essays sucked. "Blue!" _Explain the difference between Yin and Yang and tell which of the two you lean towards._ "BLUE!" Writer's block, now. That sucked even more. "Molly Hinter!" That got my attention. I turned my head to face my roommate, Hazel. Her real name was Jackie Landon. Everyone knew that. She was part of the group called the C.C. It stood for compact chicks. No one ever said that, though. It wasn't cool. It was either the C.C. or "those fucking hot chicks"-a phrase I had heard used so many times before by boys in the mess hall staring at them, not bothering to conceal their thoughts. C.C. The Compact Chicks. I don't think anyone really knew what that meant, but I guess it's probably something to do with the fact that they're all gorgeous, they're all smart, and they basically have it all. Oh yeah, and they're all rich. Hazel's allowance before she came to Thorpe was practically the same amount as the tax of Greece. Compact. All that in one person. And there was a whole group of them! God, what I would've done to be a C.C. in those days. There was always the C.C. Every year since, like 1890. It was 2007 then and still that tradition lived on-and it probably still does now.

Blue. I don't even remember how I got that nickname. Most people had one. Probably one of those old stupid traditions again. Actually, I think everyone had one. I mean, if someone like me had one-I was not the most popular of people, let's just stick with that-then it was most likely that everyone did.

"Can I get on the laptop? I have history homework. Ms. Pern _insists_ that 'we take advantage of the progress humanity has made' and get all our homework off the computer. She's been in a pissy mood this week. Probably hasn't gotten laid in a while."

"Yeah, sure. I got writers block, anyways. This essay's due in like a week." I ex-ed out of Microsoft Word and headed for my bed. I lay there sinking into the mattress, with nothing to do. Rolling over I picked up a magazine. It was this month's edition of Vogue. I started flipping through it when there was at knock on the door.

"It's unlocked," called Hazel. The door-covered in pictures of Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, and other boys that we would bang any day-swung open. It rebounded a little off the wall it was swinging at. In the doorway stood three boys. My heart started to beat a little faster. Actually, a lot faster. At Thorpe, there was a group of boys that hung out with the C.C. As an understatement, I'd like to say that they really gave those guys on the back of our door competition. At least that's what just about every damn girl at Thorpe thought-including me of course. There stood Jack Kelly, Kid Blink, and Mush Meyers. I tried to catch Mush's eye, but stopped when I realized that I didn't know what I would do if he did look at me.

"Heya, Hazel. Come on, the rest of the guys are waitin' with Connie-another of the famous C.C.-for yah. We're goin' to the-uh" Jack glanced uncertainly at me, "to 'the place'." Hazel rolled her eyes, stood up, and pulled on her black, fur-lined Gucci jacket. On her way out the door, she turned back.

"Could you take my homework outta the printer and put in on my desk? Thanks, babe." With out waiting for an answer, Hazel turned around and tiptoed down the hallway. Boys weren't supposed to be in the girl's dorms when it was social-time. Not that it made a difference to me. They never talked to me. Pshh, like that would ever happen.

_If you haven't caught on, this is being told from Blue's point of view when she's older._

_R&R._


	2. Chapter 2 Freshman

That night everyone in my dorm sat in the common room waiting for Ms. Fenner to finish with some last minute announcements. Those took forever. I really wanted to get to sleep, I had a Biology test the next day. Who gave a shit, though? It wasn't like I would've done well anyway.

"Does anyone have any last things to say before lights out?"

"Uh, yeah, would whoever it is please _stop_ leaving the toilet unflushed. It's freaking nasty." Girls laughed. That was Connie. The number one C.C. Hazel practically worshiped her, not that I ever said anything about it to her. Connie was gorgeous. Platinum blonde, strait hair, midnight blue eyes, slightly pale skin that matched incredibly well with her features, thin figure. Damn, I wished I looked like that. I looked down at myself and scoffed-a few people next to me looked over wondering what the hell I was doing, but I wasn't paying attention-compared to her, I felt like a flea. Not that Hazel wasn't pretty. She was amazingly good looking as well. She had dirty blonde, wavy hair, hazel eyes, fair skin, and a great figure. The only thing I liked about myself was my hair. My hair beat a lot of other girls'. When everyone was allowed to go back to their rooms, I headed strait towards the mirror that Hazel and I shared. Leaning in, I observed myself. Something I did quite often, now that I think about it. I stood there and scrutinized every bit of myself. _Chunky thies, pot belly, stumpy fingers, small second chin, unfirm ass, average, unattention grabbing boobs, _but then,_ great hair. _It was raven black, thick, and slightly wavy. My pride and joy. But no one made comments about my hair anymore since I was a nobody. _At least I have a good personality, _I thought. But, then again, maybe I didn't. Was that why people didn't really like me? I was just boring old Blue Hinter, dull _and_ ugly. No. Personality was the only thing I had left and I was hanging on to it.

Turning away from the mirror, I slid under my covers, and went to sleep. A long restless sleep, filled with thoughts of how ugly I was and how boring I was. Thinking back, I really had no self-esteem or self-confidence.

The morning came and I woke at the usual time, looking more tired then I had when I went to bed. _Great._ I took a quick shower before hoards of bickering girls rushed in, fighting for who would get the first shower. Putting on a pair of beige cargo pants and an olive green tank top, which really didn't flatter me too much, I picked up my books and headed out the door. Avoiding catching anyone's eye, I walked to Center Hall, which was a gigantic room that was filled with chairs and tables and a small platform where the senior class president and vice president would stand for announcements. There weren't enough places for everyone, so Seniors and a few juniors who were cool enough stood in the back, leaning against the walls. I sat at the front because I was a freshman, and freshmen were required to sit there. We had assigned seating that year, and I sat between two of those guys who were part of the group that hung out with the C.C. On my left was a boy called Crutchy Morris-so named for his crutch-and on my right was the egoistic-but gorgeous-Spot Conlon. I talked to Crutchy a little, but he was one of them, and, well, it would just be weird. But he was really nice. And Spot, well, he completely ignored me. I didn't try to talk him either but he's never even said hi. All of those guys came from New York, most from Manhattan, but Spot Conlon, he was from Brooklyn. The king of Brooklyn, he was often referred to. With stormy blue eyes and a smirk that could make me and just about every other girl in this school melt, Spot Conlon was sought after by half the school. But me, I had my eyes on Mush Meyers. He sat about 14 seats down from me next to Connie and Kid Blink.

"So, yah think you'll do good on the Bio exam today?" asked Crutchy, trying to engage me in conversation. I shrugged.

"Probably not." He laughed his weird but original laugh.

"Me, too. I don't know why I took that class." I gave him a half smile. He made me uncomfortable, 'cuz, well, like I said, he was one of them.

So far at Thorpe, I didn't really have any friends. I never gave myself a chance to, though. The senior class leaders got on top of the small black platform, and tried to quiet everyone down. Unsuccessfully, might I add. Finally, the hall fell silent as Shooter-Sean Graster-and Jax-Misty Halowell-began the announcements. No one ever really paid attention to those, but the teachers thought it was necessary. When it was all coming to an end and Shooter and Jax stepped back onto the platform-Dean Hopson had just finished talking about the next trip into the city-to finish everything up, something unusual happened. Shooter was hit with a water balloon. The crowd laughed. _Huh?_ I turned around to see who had thrown the balloon. There at the back of the hall stood Trix-Zack Topeft-grinning like a maniac.

"Tomorrow afternoon, a water balloon war will be held behind the Athletics building on the soccer field to let off after exam steam. It's every man-" Jax elbowed him in the ribs, "and woman for themselves!" The school cheered. After-exam steam. Sounded a little dirty to me. But I was glad that tomorrow first semester tests would be over. I wasn't too sure I actually wanted to participate in the war, so I put it to the back of my mind and headed for Biology. I waited until the door closed after Crutchy before going in.

Finally exams were over. People ambled around laughing and joking with friends. I sighed. I didn't really have anyone to do that with. The next morning I got up and showered at the same time as I always did. Hazel would ask me how I could get up so early. I would just shrug. I put on my pink bra with the blue lace on the edges of the cups. I loved that bra. I had to celebrate somehow, I guess. Over it, I put on a white polo with dark blue jeans and headed out the door. Most of the day was made up of students and teachers relaxing around campus. Saturdays were so peaceful at Thorpe. I was on my way to the Mess Hall to get a snack-I passed the HUGE water balloon war-when something hit me in the back. Soon, I realized that my back was completely drenched. Turning around I found Mush Meyers standing there with a huge grin on his face. I picked up a water balloon and ran after him laughing. It was one of those moments when I completely forgot how embarrassed I was to be with the popular crowd.

I finally pegged him in the shoulder, but not before he got his hands on more water balloons. Running at him I threw the water balloon as he turned around and it hit him square in the shoulder. Skidding on the wet grass I ran right into him and popped the water balloons in his hands. We just stood there for a second laughing, my hands in his, the broken water balloon rubber like a barrier. Suddenly, three figures were around us-Jack Kelly, Spot Conlon, and Kid Blink-and they dumped a bucket of water on both our heads. Giggling with glee, I tore off after Jack-my shirt, which was now see through, attracted a little attention-and Mush went after Spot and Blink. After about a minute, I lost him. Still running around looking for him in the mess of people, I collided with some one. We both rebounded off each other and landed on the ground, both spread eagled. Sitting up, I realized I had collided with a girl called Squirt-Jenny Olson-she was a freshman too, but she was in Ms. Jenkins' dorm. For a few seconds we just sat there staring at each other, but then we burst out laughing. She stood and offered me a hand. I took it and she pulled me up. I had just made an almost-friend. The year was looking up.

The next week passed excruciatingly slowly. Starting new topics after a fun long weekend was the worst. On Thursday, Jax and Shooter announced that that weekend there would be a scheduled trip into the city. You could either go to Manhattan, or you could go to a Water Park in the country. I was planning on just staying in the dorm, making some ramen noodles, and watching a movie or something. The night before, Hazel packed her bag-a bikini, a towel, sunscreen, etc. Obviously she was going to the Water Park-and got ready for bed. I was already in bed, pretending to be asleep.

"Blue?" Pause.

"Yeah?"

"Where you goin' tomorrow."

"Manhattan," I answered without thinking. I guess I didn't want Hazel to know that I was staying at the campus like a loser.

"Really? Cool. What are you gonna do there? Besides shop."

"I'm getting my belly button pierced." Once again, not thinking. I had no idea why I said that.

"That's totally fab! Don't get and ugly belly button ring, get something really pretty. You always get boring stuff." I knew that she was just trying to be supportive, Hazel was a good person, but she was still a little stuck up. I didn't answer.


	3. Chapter 3 Freshman

_Yay for reviews!_

_Racerchick, ktkakes, and Swiveling Sharpies-Drinks all around :P_

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The next morning I got up, showered, slipped on a navy blue Yale T-shirt and loose white pants, and sat on my bed thinking while Hazel washed up. I wanted to show her that I really was going to Manhattan. Even though I didn't want to. She came out of the washroom in a towel.

"Why did you shower if you're just gonna get back into the water?" I asked. Hazel rolled her eyes.

"Well, I have to look good. Plus, I might not even swim."

"Then what's the point in going?"

"Tanning, duh." It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Well, see yah. Have fun."

"Later, babe." Striding down the hall way and to the bus, I wondered what I would look like to everyone else. A complete and total loser walking around without any friends. How pathetic. When I got onto the bus, I was surprised at who I saw. Mush, Blink, Jack, Spot, Crutchy, Racetrack, the whole gang. Hazel would be disappointed when she knew that they were going to Manhattan. I smiled to myself. Walking to the back, I kept my head down so that none of the boys would catch my eye. I sat by myself in the second to last row and watched as people chattered and joked.

When the bus came to a halt on 22nd, I got out with everyone else and looked around for a place to pierce my belly button. The only place I could find was one that looked like it was where big bikers and motorcyclists went. I went in and looked at the belly button rings at the back. There was a girl's section, so I didn't feel too out of place. Sort of. I picked one out that was crescent shaped with a turquoise ball at the both ends.

"Can I help you?" I looked up. A red bearded man with big muscles looked back at me.

"Um, yeah. I came to get my belly button pierced?" I seemed to come out of my mouth like a question.

"Alright then. Just have a seat." The man gestured to a chair. Horrible scenes of blood and death erupted before my eyes. No, no, this won't hurt. I lay back in the chair and waited. I rolled up my shirt to just under where my bra was. The man came forward with a black marker and marked the area around my belly button. He cleaned it off with a yellowish liquid and got out what looked like a gun with a six inch needle coming out of it. My eyes widened. He must have seen my look of fear because he chuckled and said, "Don't worry, this shouldn't hurt a bit." _Shouldn't? SHOULDN'T? What if it does, or what if he misses and I die?_ The man took a metal object with two circled ends that had one small hole in each and pinched the skin at the top of my belly button. I flinched. Just as he was about to do it, the bell at the door rang as Mush Meyers walked in. I closed my eyes. I felt a painful pinch, and then it was over. He slipped in the ring and screwed on the second turquoise ball. After five minutes, I stood up, the man told me how to take care of it, I paid him, and I walked towards the door. Just as I was about two yards from it, everything went fuzzy, then black.

"Hello? Wake up, wake up." Someone's hand was on my cheek. Opening my eyes, I found myself staring into Mush's soft brown eyes. "She's awake. Are you ok?" He pulled me up. I just nodded. My voice didn't seem to want to work. But then, it did.

"What happened?"

"You fainted." Oh. Mush turned to the man. "D'ya have anythin' tah drink?" The man jerked his thumb.

"There's a diner that way."

"Thanks." He turned back to me, "Come on, let's go get something to eat." He led me out the door and down the street to a small diner called Tibby's. "I'm Mush, by the way. Mush Meyers." It was pretty modest of him to introduce himself. He _had _to know that just about every girl in freshman and even sophomore year knew his name. "And you're...um?"

"Blue."

"Oh yeah, Molly Hinter," he said as he held open the door and we sat ourselves in a booth. _He knew my name!_ I had to restrain myself from jumping and squealing in joy. I settled for a petite smile and a nod. "Two roast beef sandwiches and two milkshakes. Thanks." Mush looked away from Tibby-an old friend of his it seemed-and focused on me. "You're Hazel's roommate right?" My heart dropped into my stomach and I nodded again.

"Are you two going out?" I asked, not really wanting to look him in the eye but doing it anyway.

"Me and Hazel? No way. She's not my type. 'Sides, I think her an' Jack got somethin' goin'." I smiled. The way Hazel talked about Mush, it seemed like they were going out. Or hooking up or something. I guess not. I bet she would be really pissed that I spent the afternoon-hopefully-with Mush Meyers and she didn't. "Thanks," Mush said politely as a waiter set our food on the wooden table. For a while we ate in silence. As we finished up our milkshakes, Mush looked up, "Hey, me and the guys are goin' to a movie. D'ya wanna come?"

"Oh, no, that's ok. You guys have fun," I said with the tiniest hint of sadness in my voice. I hoped he wouldn't catch it.

"No really, come on, you should come with us." I thought for a moment. _Mush Meyers wants _me _to go to the movies with him? Hallelujah!  
_

"Ok." He grinned and put some money down on the table.

"Come on."

As we approached the front of the movie theatre, I caught sight of everyone. Jack, Spot, Racetrack, Kid Blink, Skittery, Bumlets, Crutchy, Specs, Dutchy, Swifty, Snoddy, Pie-Eater, Jake, Itey, and Snitch. There were so many of them I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. More so than I usually would. We walked in and sat in the already dark movie theatre. The movie had just started and I didn't even catch the name. Through out the film, I was distinctly aware of the fact that Mush's leg was touching mine. During the scary parts-yep, it was a scary movie, and the guys laughed at every scary part-Mush would let me nuzzle into his shoulder to hide my face from the screen. Once again, one of those times I don't really care about anything, when something scares me.

After the movie I went my separate way and shopped a little around that part of Manhattan. At around 4:45 I headed back to where we were supposed to get back on the bus and head back to Thorpe. By the time I got there, most people were already on. Walking down the isle I passed Jack and Spot-they were whispering about something that looked highly entertaining-along with just about everyone else who had come from Thorpe. When I reached the seat that I was sitting in before, I found that one other person was sitting in it. Mush almost never sat alone. Something wasn't right here. He looked up.

"Hey Blue, sit next to me." I edged along in from of him-he probably got a great view of the ass that I hate so much-sat by the window. Almost immediately, the bus lurched and we headed home. Five minutes into the ride, Mush stretched out his arm. Probably to put it on the back of the seat. But no, instead, he set it down gently around my shoulders. There seemed to be the slightest pull, which I gave into, of course, and fell against him, my head just below his collar bone. We seemed to fit so perfectly-something, I found out later, didn't always happen.

As I walked towards my dorm, I relived the whole day in my mind. What a great day. And-looking down at where my belly button was, I could see a miniscule lump where the ring was-I had my belly button pierced, too.

"What are you so happy about?" asked Hazel after fawning over my belly button. Her mother wouldn't let her have one. Which made me think a little bit about what mine would say. I just smiled and got in bed.

"Oh," I sighed happily. "Nothing."


	4. Chapter 4 Freshman

_**ktkakes:**__ Haha yeah, I just love Mush cuz, well first of all, he's really hot lol, but also, he's really just a nice guy, yah no? The fact that you're excited makes me really excited, too. I'm like YAY!!!!!_

_**Wrink Likes: **__Yep. A lot of these characters are influenced by people in my life. Take a lucky guess who Connie and Hazel are lmao. Also, as you'll see in this chapter, their Chinese food takes the place of u, me, and Dreamer's McD&Coffee. What the hell, maybe I'll have them take a trip to the land of pyramids and trash and have run in with the cops. Muahahahah. I'll do that in Junior year maybe:D tooshay._

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I spent the next few weeks trying to get Mush's attention, but never quite managing it. I mean, sure, there were those sidelong glances sometimes and, like, sometimes I'd look up and he'd be looking at me, but he was Mush Meyers. He probably looked at all girls like that. One particular day, when I was-as usual-trying to get Mush to notice me someone bumped into me and knocked the three books-**The Norton Anthology of American Literature : Shorter Version** bye Nina Baym, **Eastern Philosophy : The Greatest Thinkers and Sages from Ancient to Modern Times** by Kevin Burns, and **Shadow of the Hegemon** by Orson Scott Card-that I was holding out of my hands. We both bent down to pick them up and when I looked up I found myself looking at Squirt. We kept bumping into each other all over campus. This time, though, she asked me if I wanted to go for lunch together.

"Sure, where to?"

"Well there's this little Chinese place on the corner-?"

"I love Chinese food!"

"Same! And I'm bored of all that Mess Hall food."

"It tastes like cardboard, on Wednesdays," we said in unison. We both laughed. Arm in arm, we walked out of the school and down the street. My first friend at Thorpe.


	5. Chapter 5 Sophomore

_Alright, well, this is gonna be my last update for like THREE WHOLE WEEKS!!! I'm off to nerd camp-yes im a nerd. A CTY nerd, infact. 3 weeks sleepaway. I'll probably be insanely busy there but i got myself a really strong flashlight so that at night i can stay up and write new chapters. Who really cares what my roomates would think. Sheesh they're at nerd camp 2, so they cant judge me...right? haha. well i must be off. CTB._

_Oh yeah. I just saw Harry Potter and the order of the Pheonix. Its really good. I think my thoughts may be influenced by all those good looking people, but still. I'm excited for the last book to come out._

_**Racerchick:** Yeah, that last one was a pretty short chapter. But that was all it really needed to be, sorta. In my demented mind. Just establishing their friendship i guess. It's supposed to be sorta important to the rest of the story, but that might change. Heh. Well here we go..._

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Squirt and I roomed together sophomore year. As a matter of fact, we roomed together junior and senior year, too. She was my best friend. But sometimes I got a little jealous of her. She wasn't part of the C.C. and she was really funny and nice and generous and stuff. But along with that, she was really pretty. She had layered dark brown hair, tinted maroon, that went down to her upper back. She had a nice face. Ice-blue eyes with flecks of gold and a button nose. Her skin was a bronzed olive. She was short, too. Which I thought was cute. If she wasn't friends with me, Connie would probably make her into a C.C. Sometimes I felt bad about that, but then again, it was her choice to be friends with me. And you could change roommates at the end of every year, but she didn't. Sometimes I didn't know how she was my friend. I never did anything to deserve it, I think.

At Center Hall, the morning of October 7th, the senior leaders Skate-Peter Rinaldi-and Print-Lizzie Terino-announced that the game Mafia would be played this year.

"In your mail boxes there will be placed a slip of paper with someone's name on it. There will also be a sheet of paper with black stickers on it, which is your weapon. To kill someone, you take one of your stickers and put it on them. If someone sees you, then killing that person doesn't count. Once you've killed someone, they have to give you their sheet of paper and their stickers. You guys ready?" A cheer erupted in the hall. The bell rang and I went off to Drama. Since Mr. Chapman didn't really care if you were late-he usually just went "Nice of you to join us Mr./Ms. So and So."-I dropped by my mailbox and picked up my paper and stickers.

As I was going down the stairs, I looked down and my slip of paper: _Blake Nierenhousen_-every one called him Surl. He was a sophomore, like me, with dark brown hair, pale skin, and dark blue eyes. He was one of the better looking of the grade, but no one took too much of an interest in him because he was way too brooding and dark-though some girls "dig" that. Looking up, I found myself looking at the back of Surl's head. I walked a little faster-no one else was on the stairwell-and stuck a sticker onto his arm.

"Bang, your dead." He turned to face me.

"Dammit." He looked a little mad as he handed me his sheet of paper and stickers. I tried to smile but all I think happened was I looked sick.

After Drama, I looked at the sheet that Surl had given me. _Michael Harper_-Everyone called him Board-I think he was a surfer. Sandy blonde hair, vivid green eyes, fairly tanned skin. And he was a senior. Great. I looked around for him the rest of the day, but never found him. That night I decided that I was going to kill him-sheesh, why would they let a game like this be played on campus?-after announcements, when everyone was rushing in the crowd to go to class.

"So did you kill anyone today?" asked Squirt, sitting on her top bunk, painting her toenails maroon to go with her hair-once again, why would they let this game happen, not that I'm complaining? Maybe if I killed enough people, I would eventually get Mush's name, or, even better, he would get my name. Then we would _have _to touch or be around each other. Even if it was only for a short period of time.

"Yep."

"Who?" she asked with interest.

"Surl."

"You killed Blake?" she laughed. "Good. I heard he was really good at this game last year. He almost won and became the godfather, but then he got killed by Jack Dirkus." I didn't play freshman year, I think I was scared or something. Joshua Wertz killed me, like, the first day.

"Did you kill anyone?"

"Nah. I tried to kill Spot, but the 'almighty king of Brooklyn, wouldn't have it. So now he walks around with Jack, making sure that they don't get killed. Losers." I giggled.

The next morning, I put on a pair of boy shorts and a shirt that said: Little Miss Naughty, and headed to Central Hall with Squirt. Instead of staying after announcements were over-right in the middle I looked back and found Board leaning against the back wall-I hurried towards the big crowd forming around the door. When I was right behind Board-and right in the middle of his group of friends-I peeled off a black sticker and stuck it gently onto his lower back. Someone to my right tapped me. I turned.

"Not so fast, I saw that." _Shit._ "Yo, Board, this chick just tried to kill yah." Board turned, peeling the sticker off his back, and smiled. He was a lot nicer about this than Surl. His group of friends circled me.

"What's your name?" asked the friend who had caught me-Jaxon Batlet, better known as Nike-he was grinning broadly.

"Uh, Blue."

"Blue. And your real name?" asked another-Larry Trankstein, also known as Libe.

"Oh, Molly Hinter."

"Molly. Nice tah meet'cha. But don't you ever, ever try to kill me again. It's a baaad idea." Board grinned. His tone was joking. I felt like I had a crush on both him and Nike already. Looking around quickly, I hoped that Mush or Connie or someone was watching. Maybe they'd think I was cool because I was friends with seniors.

"I'll try." They chuckled. The bell rang.

"Oh, shit!" we all exclaimed at the same time. Laughing, we dispersed and sprinted to our first classes.

Eventually, I killed him. And about seven other people before I got Lonnie Saunders' slip of paper: _Mush Meyers._ YES!!! Finally. I planned to kill him during social time, so I slipped out of my dorm and out onto the path between Ms. Fenner's dorm and Mr. Anderson's dorm. Halfway down the path, I felt someone's hand on my lower back. I first, I thought someone was trying to hug me from behind, but really I knew that they were killing me. I turned around and met Connie, face to face.

"Stay away from our boy, bitch," she said before she turned around and walked away-not before snatching the paper that said Mush's name on it. I felt like running up and stabbing her. Or pushing her into the big pond so that her over blow-dried hair would deflate. But I didn't. Instead, I just walked back to my dorm, defeated.


	6. Chapter 6 Summer Before Junior year

_Sorry I havn't written forever. SO much stuff going on. I moved and started at a new highschool so things our tough.  
I'm getting back on track though. Hope you like this Chapter._

* * *

Sophomore year went by. Mush and I hadn't talked in _forever._ It was the morning of June 6th. One week of sophomore year left. I got dressed-black sweats and a John Deere sweatshirt (it was ridiculously windy outside)-and left to the dining hall with Squirt. 

"Hey, yah remember that bet we made last year?" Spot leaned over to Jack. Jack shook his head. "On the bus to Manhattan?"

"Oh yeah. How do you remembah 'dis stuff? What about it?"

"I think I'm gonna take ya up on it." I looked down at my bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch. They were staring right at me. I wonder what they were talking about? Maybe it was about me. Nah, I mean, why would they care about me? Probably just a coincidence that they were both looking at me. At the same time. Maybe I read too much into things. Molly, just shut up.

"Can I join the convo?" I looked up at Squirt for a second. Mentally, I shook myself.

"Wai-wat?"

"You were talking to your cereal. It was weird." I hated when I accidently thought aloud. Blushing, I told Squirt about Jack and Spot.

Forget about it. They're just being dumbasses. It's probably, like, football or something." Just then, Kid Blink set his tray down next to Squirt and put his arm around her-I forgot to mention, they're going out.

"Football? There's a Redskins game on tonight."

"Who are they playin'?" I asked with interest. Then I turned red. I had just talked to a popular guy.

"Hey, she finally talks." I turn crimson. "Steelers"

"Ohhh tough one. I'm gonna have tah go with the Redskins on this one."

"Steelers here" Squirt interjected. I finished my cereal and left for announcements with Crutchy-we became friends after both failing that Biology test our freshman year.

The next day Spot caught up to me as I was coming out of 3rd period jazz and hip hop-I had free period afterward so I could get cleaned up because I was always really sweaty after dance. I tried to keep walking but he grabbed my arm.

"Hey, uh, can we talk?" he glanced aroung-probably didn't wanna be seen with with me-then indicated the hidden area behind the gray, L-shaped covering wall by the guy's bathroom. I nodded-my voice wasn't doing anything I wanted it to-and we walked behind it. When I was standing in the corner facing him he took a breath, "So, uh, I was wonderin' if ya'd like tah come to Brooklyn wit' me this summer?" I blinked. Was this come sort of crappy joke?

"What?"

"Ya know, we could like hang out and junk. Like become friends or somethin'." I had never heard Spot sound like this. It was kinda weird. Just not something he would do-unless it was for a bet or a game or something-he never turned down one of those. But he didn't look like he was faking it.

"Uh, well-"

"You can get back to me later in the week or somethin'." The he smiled and walked away-resuming his usual conceited air-I hurried to find Squirt.

I spent a couple of days thinking about it and I decided to take him up on his offer. Man, did I not know what I was doing. I wonder what people would think when they found out that I was spending the summer with Spot Conlon. Spot Conlon! He found me at breakfast-Connie shot me a bitchy look-and I told him that I would be able to. It was gonna be awkward-I just knew it. After I accepted he smirked and walked back over to the "popular" table and jumped into deep conversation with Jack, throwing occasional glances in my direction. What did I just get myself into? Spot told me not to bring much luggage and make sure there was a lot of empty room in my suitcase-and to bring a suitcase that I didn't really like that much. But I better listen. I mean, it's Spot Conlon.

I packed a couple of shirts, pants, boy shorts-you know the deal. I told my parents I was staying with Squirt-her foster parents are completely chill-and she insisted that Squirt came next summer of winter break. But anyway. The limo-style car ride-this guy must be _really _rich- was kinda awkward-Spot and I played B.S. for a while, I shared my Fritos and he shared his Sour Patch Kids gummies while we watched The Prestige, then he laughed as I squealed and gasped while I read Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows , to which at one point I exclaimed, "DON'T LAUGH, I THINK SOMEONE JUST _DIED_!!!!!!!" and we both started laughing hysterically-but we got the tiniest bit more comfortable with each other. It took forever to get from Thorpe-which was is Westchester in the Bronx-to get to Brooklyn. The traffic was insane. The whole way there, thought, Spot seemed to be sizing me up, critiquing my every move and everything about me. It was really intimidating. The Conlon manor was FRICKEN HUGE. Mr. and Mrs. Conlon were really nice-Mrs. Conlon had blonde hair and striking, stormy blue eyes, same as Spot, Mr. Conlon had medium brown ,wavy hair and dark brown-but I felt so out of place. Why did I come again? Just when I thought that the introductions were over, the loudest damn noise I had ever heard almost blew me out the fucking door.

"MAAAXXXXXXXXXXXXX!!!!!" Max? Who's Max? A girl-she looked about 17 with long, wavy, blonde hair and dark brown eyes-came running at Spot and engulfed him in a hug that looked to be extremely painful. Of course, Spot couldn't be his real name. Max. Max Conlon-I like it-not as much as Spot, but it was cute. Right before introducing herself as Anna Conlon, Spot whispered something to her-she looked at me while he was whispering-so I'm scared that he was talking about me. Spot had one of seven butlers-seven! IIIIIIIIIIIIIII knoooow-bring my suitcase up to my room and immediately pulled me out the door.

"BYE MOM, BYE DAD. LATER ANNA!"

"Where are we going?" Spot got a twinkle in his eyes-swoon-and kept walking. I jogged to catch up. "Spooooooot," I whined.

"You'll see." We arrived at a 19th century looking warehouse by the Brooklyn docks. I heard noises coming from inside-it sounded like rough-housing boys-and I stopped. Spot ushered me inside.

"Heya Jones! I got myself a friend an' was wonderin' if she could stay here with us this summah?" Mr. Jones peered at the two of us over his ancient-looking spectacles.

"A goil?"

"Don't worry, she can stay in my room." Mr. Jones raised an eyebrow. "I ain't gonna pull nuttin', either." I blushed a little-I used to never blush. I would get really embarassed but I never blushed-just the thought of Spot ever "pulling" something made me feel all weird inside. Spot Conlon! Jones finally nodded-I was kind of embarassed. I'm not sure why, though. "Jones?" He looked up. "Could you, uh, tell Kloppman to tell Jack that, uh," he glanced at me, "that he better keep his eyes open at the beginning of the school year."

Spot pushed me gently down the hall and through the doorway where all the noise was coming from-of course, I fought to stay put-needless to say, I lost. A moment of standing in the door and the room quieted. There were no cat calls or wolf whistles-and i bet there would have been if I was attractive at all. Then Spot walked in. All the boys cheered. It was almost as loud as Anna's voice. Spot smirked-he just _loved_ being loved-then quieted them down.

"Alright fellahs, this here's Molly,"-he knows my REAL name!-"An' she's gonna be stayin' here wit' us for a while." That night-I could hear Spot quietly snoring in the bunk below me, and the other boys snoring in the other room-I rolled over. Why am I here? And why does Spot want Jack to keep his eyes open? Something's up.

"Get up." I rolled over. "Get UP." I rolled onto my back. Suddenly, my face, as well as my covers, were drenched in water. My eyes flew open and I sat bolt upright. When i looked to my left, there was Spot-with one eyebrow raised and a smile playing at his lips-a dripping metal pail in one hand.

"WHY would you DO that? What _time_ is it?"

"4:30."

"In the MORNING?!?!?"

"Shhh...the boys are still asleep. I figured yah'd need more time to get ready-"

"Well I don't! Ugh!"

"Not a morning person, then?" Spot smirked-teehee-I loved that smirk-but **not** at 4:30 a.m.

"Not when I'm completely drenched!" I got off the bunk and walked to the middle of the room. Spot threw some clothes at me-brown knee length shorts, a white button-up shirt, a brown plaid vest, black ankle boots, and a plaid newsboy cap. Rolling my eyes, I walked into the washroom. "Why do I have to wear this anyways?" I called from the washroom.

"You gotta dress like a newsie if you'se gonna sell papes."

"I'm selling NEWSPAPERS?" I stood in the door with the pants on and the shirt halfway buttoned. Spot raised his eyebrows. Obscenely embarrassed, I rushed back in and finished getting dressed. Not like what just happened meant anything at all. I was ugly. And I needed to lose weight.

For then next 3 weeks, Spot had me selling papes, swimming in the river, and walking around Brookyln. We became a lot closer-almost best friends-I never thought that that would ever happen.

"Hey, I'll race you to the docks." Spot had said this every single day that I'd been here. The first time I lost really badly. This time, I was sure that I could beat him. I took off running. "Hey thats not fair! You got a head start!" Spot laughed as he sprinted after me. I barely beat him there but I finally did it. When I got to the docks I skidded on a puddle of water. Spot crashed into me and we both went tumbling into the water. Spot resurfaced and looked around himself. I wasn't there.

"Molly? Molly!" Suddenly, from under water, I grabbed his foot and pulled him under. We both came up for air, laughing. A silence filled the air. I could feel my heart beating in my throat. Spot leaned in, so did I. Our faces were 2 inched apart.

"CANON BALL!" Three newsboys-Shooter, Page, and Hook came hurling out of nowhere and landed in the water. Spot and I turned towards all the commotion.

"Uh, I'm just gonna, um, go back to the, uh, lodging house." I turned and swam towards the ladder.

Back at the lodging house, I dried off and put on one of Spots large plaid button-up shirts. I walked carefully into the washroom and looked at myself in the mirror. I didn't have a second chin anymore, I had a flat tummy, toned muscles, I looked great. _So this is what it feels like to be Connie._ I was so happy. And Spot and I almost kissed. AAAAAAHHHHHHH. But I still liked Mush. I think.

The next morning, Spot took me back to his mansion.

"Why are we leaving? I like it here."

"We've finished the first half."

"Huh? The first half of what?"

"Oh, uh, I mean, we still have two weeks left, and, uh, we finished more than half of summer already. You don't wanna spend your whole summer there." Sounded like a load of bull, but I didn't question it.

The room I was staying in was huge. It had a walk-in closet and everything. I flopped onto the queen sized bed and just lay there.

The next morning I woke up at five a.m. I was way too used to the life a newsboy. I took a shower and slipped into my bright green satin p.j. Pants and a pink tank top with light green lace trim and threw open the white, pink, salmon, and green paisley patterned curtains. I flipped my head upside down and let my hair flow. There came a knock at the door. "Come in." I called. After assembling my hair in a messy bun, I flipped my hair back up and looked to see who had entered the room. Anna was sitting on my bed-wearing yellow soffe shorts and a white camie-with a smile on her face.

"Hey." I sat down next to her on the bed.

"Hi, what's up?"

"So, I talked to Spot and hes got stuff to do. Sooooooo we're going shopping!" We both squealed. "Alright. I've decided to give you a make-over. We're going shopping, getting our hair done, mani-pedi's, the whole deal. It's gonna be awesome!" Now _this_ is something I wouldn't mind spending the money I saved up on. We went down to breakfast together laughing and giggling, talking about girl stuff-something I hadn't done in the month I spent with Spot.

We started out shopping. "Here, try this on." Anna handed me a creme-colored shirt-dress with two fabric straps to tie back right under where the chest is.

"I don't know if I could ever wear this."

"It's all about your attitude. If you act like you don't care what people think, then you can pull anything off."

"Ok, ok." I took the dress and pulled back the dark red curtain to the dressing room stall.

"And these, too." Anna threw a pair of black-blue skinny jeans into the curtained area. I put them on and walked out. "Holy crap. You look amazing!"

"Really?" I looked at myself in the mirror. I did look good. Someone who worked in the boutique came over.

"Oh my, this looks absolutely darling on you," she said through her British accent. "The light color of the top contrasts beautifully with your dark hair, and the dark jeans tie it all together."

"Uh, well, thank you." Anna grinned at me and I smiled a little sheepishly back. I felt like I had just bought a third of the store on our way out. We spent the day shopping and I decided to get something for Squirt. I ended up getting her a short black dress-spaghetti straps and a string that you tie in a tiny bow in the front right under where her boobs would be-and a couple other things. I was exhausted by the end of the day and skipped dinner to sleep. This is how the next couple weeks went.

"Oh, your hair! It's a gorgeous disaster!" The second I walked into the salon a lady-who was perming a young woman's blond hair curly-yelled across the salon. I turned back to face Anna and gave her a nervous look-I wasn't used to people taking notice of me-it was weird. "Take care of this one, I wanna do her hair."

I never really thought about it, but it's kinda weird that I had my head in a sink and someone was washing it for me. As the man finished washing out the pantene pro-V smooth and silky conditioner out of my hair and wrapped it in a bright white towel, I sat up and saw Anna talking with the woman who had yelled at me when I first walked in-it turns out, she was really good friends with the owner, and could get anything done here free. I sat in front of the mirror reading an issue of Tiger-beat-gossip magazines were great for relaxing-and the lady-Kayla Gellar-got to work on my hair. She gave me lots of layers and side-swept bangs, and cut my hair to about five inches past my shoulders. Next, Anna-who had gotten some blonde highlights and a trim-and I got our nails done, mine were coppery red and hers were bubble-gum pink. Afterwards she took me to Sephora where we bought make-up. I headed strait for the Bare Escentuals section. We both left with about half the store in our bags. The day before Spot and I went back to school, Anna and I went to the spa. We got our eyebrows done-which, by the way, hurts like a bitch-massages, sauna, the whole package.

That night I packed all my new stuff into my brand new Louie Vuitton luggage and purse. I slipped beneath the flowery comforter and turned to my side. I started thinking about the whole summer and how much fun I had and how much better I looked. It was a ridiculous transformation that was almost impossible for me or, like, anyone else to imagine. I felt like I was one of those people who goes on those makeover T.V. Shows that they show on Style T.V. I'm not sure at which point I actually fell asleep, but I did, because the next thing I knew, Anna was shaking me awake and we were heading down the stairs for breakfast. We sat there in silence, eating our fruit and bagels-I always had mine plain with cream cheese and lox-trying to make time pass slower.

Anna and I hugged each other for, like, forever. Man, was I gonna miss her. Spot and I slid into the car. The ride back to Thorpe was a lot more fun than the ride to Spot's. Since Spot and I were actually friends now, I had a good time not being awkward. When we arrived, I stepped out of the car to welcome the homey site-wearing dark jeans, a lemon yellow Victoria's Secret racer back tank top, black big-eyed sunglasses, black flip flops, and a Louie Vuitton handbag. Spot's chauffeur brought my bags into my room. I walked in afterwards. I found Squirt sitting on her loft bed on her side of the room. Her jaw dropped.

"No fucking WAY!!!!! AAAAHHHHHH!!!!" We ran and hugged each other. "You look AMAZING!"

"Really? You think so?"

"Yah, holy crap. You look insane!"

"Thanks! So do you!" After telling her _all _about my summer and vise versa-she went to Paris with her parents-and exchanging gifts, I started to unpack. There came a knock at the door.

"Come in!" I called at the huge poster of the Jonas Brothers that covered the back of the door. The door opened and Spot stuck his head into the room. "Hey, Spot." Squirt looked between us, she had only seen me hiding from him, never talking to him before.

"Hey guys, ya' wanna head out tah lunch?"

"Sure." I knodded.

Spot pushed through the swinging doors and we walked into the lunch room-Spot on my left and Squirt on my right. You know how when people walk in, other people look at them just to see who it is? Well, that's what happened. We got our food-Squirt and I got green salad and brisket, and Spot got, well, let's just say that the people behind us didn't have much to choose from-and sat at a table with Jack, Skittery,Racetrack, Crutchy, Blink and-my heart skipped a beat-Mush.

"Blue?" I turned towards Jack and smiled. "Wow, uh, you look, um, that's, uh, wow."

"Um, thanks." Spot and Jack pounded fists and I heard Jack say, "Nice" and Spot give him a don't-mess-with-me look. We ate while chattering about our summers-turns out all the other guys sell papes for most of the summer too, but in Manhattan instead of Brooklyn.

"Alright, well, we'll see you guys later."

"See ya." Squirt and I stood up and walked towards the exit. Squirt looked back and blew a kiss to Blink. "They are so checking you out."

"Really? Are you sure they aren't lookin' at you? They always do." Squirt glanced back.

"No, they're lookin' at you. Haha, and apparently," Squirt laughed, "So is Connie. And man, does she not look happy."

That night, instead of going to dinner-I didn't really like all the guys and girls looking at me. Plus, I was kind of hurting that Mush didn't talk to me, not even once-Squirt and I stayed in the main room of our dorm, heated up some ramen cup noodles, and watched R.E.N.T. On the big flat screen T.V. That all the girls in our dorm pooled some money together to buy, along with a DVD player. Squirt and I lay on the big maroon-colored couch in our PJ's under our Winnie the Pooh blanket and fell asleep.


End file.
